Free Advanced Reader’s Copy of Susan Cain’s Quiet

Common Reads is feeling very generous these days, and luckily you all are the ones who benefits! We’re very excited about author Susan Cain’s upcoming book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking and we’re offering free advanced reader’s copies here!

The book isn’t officially on sale until January 2012, but the title has already created quite a lot of buzz. Cain’s incredibly insightful article, “Is Shyness an Evolutionary Tactic?” was featured as one of the most emailed articles in The New York Times Opinion Pages this past weekend.

Cain makes the point that the personality traits of introversion and shyness (two very different things, as she makes clear) are largely undervalued and negatively judged in today’s highly extrovert society.  Yet there are a surprising number of valuable assets that come with these “quieter” traits. Reading Quiet will hopefully bring us all much cause for reflection and leave us with a new outlook on embracing all personality types, quiet or loud.

Susan Cain, a self-proclaimed introvert, is a consultant to major corporations and law firms on negotiation strategies and personal presentation style. Not to shabby. Visit her website at: ThePowerofIntroverts.com.

To get your free advanced reader’s copy of Quiet, either leave a message for us here in the comment section or email us at rhacademic@randomhouse.com with your preferred shipping information.

Free Advanced Reader’s Copy of Word Hero!

Calling all professors! We’re happy to announce that we’re offering free advanced reader’s copy of Word Hero: A Fiendishly Clever Guide to Crafting the Lines that Get Laughs, Go Viral, and Live Forever by Jay Heinrichs.

The book isn’t officially on sale until October 4th, but we wanted to offer you an early release copy to check it out first! If you or anyone you know wants to learn how to use the power of words to get people laughing or talking, you’ll want this book to use as your guide.

Author Jay Heinrichs has spent more than 25 years in publishing as a magazine writer, editor, and executive. He quite the word-mastermind and also the author of Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion. If you’d like an examination copy of Thank You for Arguing, the link is listed below the post.

Leave a message for us here in the comment section if you’d like a free copy! Or email us at rhacademic@randomhouse.com with your preferred shipping information.

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Order an Exam Copy of Thank You for Arguing

Living Half a Life

Darin Strauss, author of the power and unforgettable memoir Half a Life, has written something special for his readers that we’d like to share on Common Reads. In Half a Life, acclaimed novelist Darin Strauss recounts a tragedy and its aftermath. He explores loss and guilt, maturity and accountability, hope and acceptance. The result is a staggering, uplifting tour de force.

We are very excited to have Strauss as one of our featured speakers at next year’s FYE conference. In his following essay, Strauss gives us a powerful picture of why he finally chose, after 18 years, to write this memoir. He also explains what the clarity and healing that has come with this revealing has meant both to himself and to his readers.

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When I was 18, I was in a car accident: a girl swerved in front of my car, I couldn’t avoid her, and she died. I moved soon afterward, and so this crash and its aftermath made up  the secret I carried around for 18 years. Until I wrote HALF A LIFE.